Cleopatra (1963)

But I can't believe the overall rating of 7,0. Although beautifully filmed and with a great soundtrack, I found it very boring, dull, and dreadful. It was like seeing ''Doctor Zhivago'' after 10 hours of stock fottage of the Russian revolution was added. The opening credits lasted 10 minutes while they could have lasted only 5 minutes. Yet many films are very long but still entertaining and engaging to watch (like ''The Longest Day'', ''The Greatest Story Ever Told'', ''The Young Lions''), but this should have lasted at least two hours. I felt asleep the first time I watched it, and the second time I left it after 2 hours! And when I leave a movie even after the second viewing it's a bad sign. Many scenes (like the parade scene) seemed to last an eternity, and the acting was very wooden.Now don't assume I don't like old American movies. I liked and loved many of them, just not this one.

"Cleopatra" (1963) is better that it's reputed to be. It's overlong, of course, but the production drips with opulence from nearly every frame, the acting is strong, the storytelling is good (despite the cuts), and there are some HUMONGOUS set pieces (Cleopatra's entrance into Rome probably surpasses anything similar that has been attempted before or since). Personally I think every movie buff needs to see this movie at least once, it can be an eye-filling experience and it can be an ordeal, but it's a rare example of cinematic ambition (over?)shooting for the moon. *** out of 4.

Cleopatra This is a four hour film and I'm two and a half hours into it so far and will probably finish off the rest of it in a few days. If after I finish watching the film, and my thoughts about it change in anyway, I will come back and edit this review. I'm feeling lazy as sh&t right now so expect this to be a halfa$$ed review. No seriously, I am super lazy right now. Scr#w it. This film is outstanding and I wish those pieces of garbage running Hollywood would put out stuff like this nowadays. My final score is 9 out of 10 because this film is epic but has flaws.

Cleopatra is one of my favourite movies. The reasons for this are various.THe most superficial aspect about the movie is that of a lavish production. I enormously enjoythe rich, detailed and realistic sets and props, although they feature quite a few anachronisms, especially regarding Cleo's palace.Beyond that, the movie features some very good performances, with Harrison and MacDowall topping the cast, of which only one earned an Academy Award nomination and another lost one for supporting role due to a minor technical formality. Historical realism, including appearances and characters, is not the point of this movie. Otherwise Taylor would not have played the title role. A screenplay composed by historical accounts, those of Plutarch among them, but also a book which I have not read but I deem probably a pseudo-historical novel, the story is supposed to emphasise the struggle of Cleopatra for independence and dignity through any possible means. Her love for Anthony and Ceasar is portrayed as genuine infatuation, which is not known as a historical certainty, but her egotism and Egypt's interests rest also on the top of her priority list. A proof of this is her departure from Actium after learning without verification that Mark Antony is dead, to head to Egypt for regroupment and defense. In general events and guidelines the film is accurate enough to satisfy the reasonable amateur-historian viewers. Several minor or supporting historical figures are omitted probably to create a trio of great role- characters.As for the turbulent history of edits and releases I lament this the most for it is generally believed to have damaged the film and fracturing its continuity and meaning. Though the 250 min version which I have watched recently on Bluray proceeds logically through the plot, small abrupt cuts and connections occur and certain plot details and interconnections are cut. I have only seen photo stills from any cut scenes, among them a scene of the civil war between the Ptolemaic rulers which shows Cleopatra in her battlefield tent. I think that this opulent and well-crafted production deserves to present the viewers with all its magnificence of colours, sets and costumes and performances, for which so much ink, blood and gold has been wasted and nearly made 20th C-Fox sink financially. So, I will always yearn for a director's cut restored, remastered, reedited and re-scored in 1080p perhaps. I would personally sign a contract to buy a set of a 360 CLeopatra BLuray collection even if it cost 100 dollars, because I think that, after all, both the audience and the cast and crew deserve to have their toils fully compensated for having provided an epic which will be, when restored, the best crafted and also nearing the top in performances epic of the pre-CGI film era.So for all the above I give a 9/10, awarded specifically for the director's cut which J.L.M. certainly exchanged his career for.